Chapter 3: Cooperation
Mkuki was now determined to coordinate the other three to victory.
Yet again Nala approached her mother, who took a step back but also swiped at Nala with her other paw.
This time, Nala backed away early enough to avoid getting pushed over.
"Yes." She muttered under her breath.
"Don't get cocky, concentrate on the prey's movement." Instructed Mkuki.
"Don't let her out of your sight." She further said.
"I know what I'm doing" said Simba who also took a step towards Sarabi and jumped out of the way when the lioness was swiping at him.
"Ha!" He exclaimed brashly.
Then it was Nalas turn again.
Then Simbas.
With every approach and retraction, they managed to move Sarafine closer to the narrow rock formation. Mkakati was staying behind Sarafine, ready to strike once the lioness was unable to perform evasive maneuvers in the stone funnel.
Simba started to act more boldly with each step that he forced Sarafine to take back.
"Simba, don't prance around so much. Just keep the rhythm going." Instructed Mkuki from nearby.
"I'm not prancing. Do I look like a Zebra to you ? I'm trying out different intimidation tactics." Simba explained.
"Whatever it is, it's too exaggerated. Swift and precise movements will keep you out of harm's way." Explained Mkuki.
"But that's boring." Complained Simba as he got on his hind legs again and waved his claws towards Sarafine who was currently swiping at Nala again.
"It's not boring when you are trying to bring down a buffalo that could kill you in one quick moment of inattention." Mkuki tried to explain.
"Whatever. I can be more expressive with my movements and still corner the prey. You'll see." Exclaimed Simba with pride.
"Just please don't screw this up." Mkuki sighed.
The cubs almost had Sarafine in the narrow passage when Simba thought he saw an opening, that was perfect for a surprise frontal assault.
After having evaded Sarafines paw yet again, while the lioness was swiping at her daughter Simba leaped at Sarafines exposed neck.
The lioness had anticipated this move got on her back paws herself for about two seconds, avoiding Simbas flight path.
The young prince landed almost exactly where Sarafine had placed her front paws just a moment earlier.
Then she put one paw on the ground again to support her weight and placed the other softly on Simba, who had landed flat on his belly.
"Aaaand you got trampled." Exclaimed Sarafine with an amused smile.
"What ? No, that's not fair." Simba protested while trying to wiggle free.
" Ugh." Mkuki groaned.
"What happened, "asked Mkakati " who was emerging from behind Sarafine."
"Simba had to boast again." Mkuki said, as she approached the prince who was now getting up again after Sarafine had lifted her paw.
"Not quite." Interrupted Sarafine.
"Mom ?" Nala asked in confusion." What do you mean ? He screwed the strategy up."
Nala didn't like to talk about Simba that way, but she could not deny that he had broken formation and that this had in turn led to them failing the exercise again.
"Yes, he did fail to play his part in the exercise I wanted you to do. But he did do something that could come in handy if done with the proper
communication. Simba." Sarafine adressed the prince.
"Huh?" Simba said in Response.
"Improvisation is important, but you always need to tell your hunting group just what it is that you want to do before you do it, so that they can help you. They can distract you or maybe even join you in your attack, making it more likely to succeed." Sarafine explained.
"But I saw a way of reaching my prey's weak spot and I didn't have enough time to tell Nala about it." Simba explained deffensively.
"Are you sure about that ?" Sarafine asked. "Sometimes prey animals have patterns that you can see and use to your advantage after you have watched them long enough." Explained Sarafine.
"But how was I supposed to know that ?" Simba said, even more reluctant to admit any flaw in his actions.
"Its something you just have to learn. Always make sure you actually know all of your preys moves before you approach it." Sarafine went on.
Simba didn't look all that ready to absorb any new information.
"Whatever." He scoffed.
"Don't whatever the teacher. It is your fault we have to start the exercise again." Mkuki growled at Simba.
"I believe this might be the perfect time to take a quick break. I will be back in about 20 minutes or so and you can use that time to clear your heads and maybe think of some new strategies." Sarafine told the cubs and started to walk away.
"Oh and please," She turned around to add. "Don't play the blame game while I'm gone. Focus on the positives of the previous exercise and figure out how you can do it even better." The she turned back and kept walking.
The cubs were quiet for a few moments until Sarafine was out of sight.
Mkuki looked with dismay at Simba.
Simba in turn was glaring at the middle distance with a sort of aloof rejection of Sarafines and Mkukis words on his mind.
"Simba ?" Nala adressed her friend.
Simba just walked off and disapeared behind the rock formation that they had tried to lure Sarafine into.
Mkakati and Mkuki looked at Nala.
"Listen. I get it he seems kind of like a jerk right now but believe me, he really is nice. He just feels a bit pressured." Nala explained.
"Does he know ? I couldn't tell by his boastfull BS" Snarled Mkuki.
"Mkuki, Sarafine said not to focus on the negatives." Mkakati reminded her friend.
Mkuki rolled her eyes.
"Fine. He did actually do what he was told, for the most part." Mkuki admitted.
"Nevermind the fact that this is our first hunting lesson too." She went on.
" Its all just pretend for now and he knows it. I believe that he will take a real hunting situation much more seriously." She finished.
"Should we try and get him to come back ?" Asked Mkakati.
"No. I get him alone. We are best friends after all." Said Nala as she went off to follow Simba.
He had not gone too far and when Nala had caught up with him she could see the defeated look in Simbas eyes.
The young prince was sitting on the grass staring back at pride rock in the distance.
"Hey." Nala said to her friend
"What ?" Simba said absent mindedly.
"Do you need a hug ?" She asked sympathetically.
"No." Simba repudiated towards Nala.
"Are you sure ?" Nala asked again.
"This was a dumb idea." Simba ignored her repeated offer. Nala could hear in Simbas voice that he was about to tear up.
"I had a good idea and then your mom had to move. Now I look like an idiot and you and the other two hate me now." Simba startet mewling.
His stiffled sobs made it clear to Nala that he did need a hug.
She put her front paws on her her friend and held him tightly.
"Hey. Its alright. They don't hate you. And I could never hate you." Said Nala.
Simba sniffled for a few moments before he slowly started to calm down again.
"Aw man." He said, managing to sport a smile again. "And here I was worried that I would be made fun of for hunting like a girl, when I am crying like one instead." He chuckled, as he whiped away one of his tears.
Nala rolled her eyes in amusement.
"You are crying like a little boy, because that is what you are." She snickered.
"I am not so little." Simba responded.
" You're not big enough to not get held down by my mom." Nala countered.
"Whatever, she pushed you out of the way like a piece of shrubbery earlier." Simba teased back.
"Hey, she has quite a lot of strength you know." Protested Nala.
Soon the two were chuckling about Sarafines mock prey behaviour until Simba addressed Nala more somberly.
"I think I am ready to go back to the others now." He told Nala.
"I want to show Mkuki that I can be a great team player." He added.
"That's great to hear." Nala smiled.
"For our next attempt at Sarafines exercise, I will become one with the group." Simba declared.
"One of the girls." Teased Nala.
"Just for the duration of the exercise." Clarified Simba and the two cubs walked back to Mkuki and Mkakati.
End of Chapter 3